I love hiking. It's a good release for me and it gets me outside which helps my depression. Unfortunately, I am clumsy! I left Friday for a two nighter. We went up near the Needles. We had a blast, for a winter hike. One of the group's members tests new technology for REI so we were very comfortable. The last day of our trek, the same guy decided he wanted to try out a new wet suit thing he'd bought so we went to Peppermint Creek. The lower part of the creek is a series of granite swimming holes. I wasn't getting in the water but I wanted to watch him try it so I jumped across the creek. It turned out to be a very bad idea because I slipped on some smooth, wet rock/ice and my left foot went into a space between two rocks. My body kept going with the momentum of my jump and my tibia and fibia cracked.
I have really bad luck or make very stupid decisions, maybe both.
The good news, if you want to call it that, is that I had to go to a County Hospital because that's where the medivac people took me and there was a great social worker there. When I explained my situation to her, she went to work yesterday and got me enrolled in a few programs to help with the bills and I'll only end up spending a few hundred for all of this (with a payment plan, even!). I'm really glad she was on duty when I came in because I think it's going to be okay financially.
In the meantime, I'm going to classes and I actually feel pretty good. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It's less painful than my throat surgery, go figure.
I just wanted to explain my absense from the blog. I'm sure I'll write more later because I won't be going anywhere beside class this week.
get well !!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you will be OK, and thank goodness you met with a social worker who was able to help you. Rest up and feel better!
ReplyDeleteYOWTCH!!!!! You poor thing! But yay for the social worker!!! Rest up and get better, kiddo. (I'll toss a few bucks in the tip jar there to help out ;-)
ReplyDeleteOw, ow, ow. I'm glad you met a helpful person and that you can still keep up with classes and such. Wish I was there to draw all over your cast.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! So about the first of June you should be hiking again!
ReplyDeleteGet well soon.
Good for you ruth! social workers can be so nice and helpful!! I'm glad you don't have to worry about the finances/costs of your injury. Just focus on relazing and getting better!!
ReplyDeleteAre you on crutches?
ReplyDeleteMy mom broke her foot about 6 weeks ago, and got her cast off today. It was pink too, lol.
Several yrs. ago I broke my ankle. It hurt. But it's ok now.
Get well soon.
Hey, now, you don't make bad decisions- you're living your life. Sometimes that means getting hurt. Although if you try that same stunt again, that is making a bad decision. ;)
ReplyDeleteGet well soon, Ruth.
Owie! Hope it heals up soon!
ReplyDelete"I have really bad luck or make very stupid decisions, maybe both."
ReplyDeleteOne of the hardest things to get over after legalism is the constant search for cause and effect. Sometimes things just happen. It has nothing to do with your luck or your decisions. Notice how, with either answer, you blame yourself? That's what you were taught to do. Bunk!
All any of us can do is start where we are and move forward. You are gaining so much ground and you are being blessed. Keep going!
Clumsiness is often a symptom of not having been encouraged or allowed to use your body freely while you were growing up. Children who are encouraged to run around, engage in active play, and participate in sports, get comfortable with their bodies in an instinctive way, while children that aren't tend to be less aware. Once children start believing they're clumsy, it can become self-fulfilling, because they self-select out of opportunities to become more athletic, or they are turned down/not chosen/prevented from becoming more active by others.
ReplyDeleteI see this all the time with women in my peer group, many of whom were discouraged from athletics by parents or peer pressure, because 'sports were for boys'. The stereotype of the cute bumbling woman comes straight out of women not being allowed to be active, in my opinion.
It seems like girls growing up under patriarchy are not just discouraged but prevented from the kind of activities that improve strength and coordination. (Whereas being good with their hands for the cooking, cleaning, and sewing is a requirement!)
So I guess I'm saying, I'm so sorry you had an accident, and that must have been painful, emotionally as well as physically! But if you are, perhaps, not very body aware, there are probably reasons for that directly tied to how you were encouraged and allowed to behave while growing up. The good news is, if you let yourself heal, and then go back out hiking, and running, and jumping, and playing --carefully at first--, you might discover that you're not clumsy after all, just in need of more practice connecting with your body.
Is this the Peppermint Creek above the Kern? My kid got one of the worst ear infections ever swimming in the pools. Had to drive to the hospital in Weldon as we were camping way past the dam on Isabella.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are doing okay. Kudo's to the social worker who helped you.
Feel better.
Ow. Ow. Ow. SOOO glad you met that social worker. Financial worries are a pain in the behind.
ReplyDeleteDave... you posted:
"One of the hardest things to get over after legalism is the constant search for cause and effect. Sometimes things just happen. It has nothing to do with your luck or your decisions. Notice how, with either answer, you blame yourself? That's what you were taught to do. Bunk!"
You have no idea how hugely helpful this was. My son is doing exactly this right and driving himself crazy in the bargain. I'm passing this on to him.
@ AmulBunny
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the one! It's past Jonsondale and you make a right at the highway that goes to the trail of the giants, I think.
Oh! Bless your heart!
ReplyDeleteYet, as others have said, I would so encourage you to look at this as the best kind of injury - the kind you get when you do something fun and spontaneous.
Wishing you a quick healing!
But I bet you still had a great weekend! Heal up quickly & get lots of signatures, Ruth.
ReplyDeleteTake care.
Jean
Sorry about your leg Ruth! Be sure to take plenty of vitamin D and calcium while you are recuperating!
ReplyDeleteCynthia
Hey! Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make a great omelet! ;) Or a leg to meet a great social worker who will help you get a little bit of extra help.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that was cheesy. I'm glad you are okay, I'm jealous that you got to test out some REI stuff, and I'm eagerly anticipating your next blog installment. Be good to yourself!
I like the name of the creek! neat name! but...doesnt it give away somewhat where you live? Or is it not enough clue to be worried over.
ReplyDeleteCasts can be sooooooo much fun! NOT lol. Fun part for me was learning to shower with a plastic bag on my leg.
glad it was a fun and adventurous weekend!
Get well soon Ruth! I hope you are ok and can still get around all-right. Make the most of the disability services at your school and make sure they give you all the help they can!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Ruth...what a thing to have happen! If you were indeed in the Lake Isabella area I have to say I lived there for 5 years back in the 1980's. Beautiful area, lots of outdoor activities. Take care of yourself. I'm sending out happy, healthy thoughts for you.
ReplyDeleteHeal quickly! How fortunate the social worker was there to help you with the bills. Wishing you lots of good things coming your way!
ReplyDeleteYou are not clumsy at all. It can happen to anybody. But at least you met with an awesome person who has helped you out and made your life hopefully less stressful. But still, injuries while having fun are a whole lot better than injuries that happen because something bad is happening. The last time I had a massive injury was when my "cousin" slammed my hand in a car door and made it latch on purpose. He wished he was on crutches after I was through with him :)
ReplyDeleteGet well soon sweetheart! *hugs*
I love the trail of the giants. I don't like upper peppermint, it's too scary up there. But I love the Kern.
ReplyDeleteI broke my foot last year, on Mothers Day. Spent 6 weeks in a boot. Hope you are doing better.
I love the drive from Isabella up through Johnsondale. Almost as good as going into Yosemite Valley.
We're in the same state!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"We're in the same state!"
ReplyDeleteDitto that!
Ack! I was a jock girl and I fall off my Dansko sandals at least twice a spring/summer. I sprained my ankle again just last week. I'm also supposed to wear orthotics (slightly deformed ankles/feet and no toes for balance) so I need to pay attention when I walk. I live and go to school in very hilly areas with various walking surfaces, including sidewalks with oak roots busting out of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard since I'm always thinking of something, but I wake up everytime I twist the ole ankle. At least for a week or so. :)
Glad you can still attend class; I was felled by an appendectomy last fall and couldn't commute, carry anything, or walk around. You've survived a ton of adversity that would fell a lesser person. Keep fighting! All the best from someplace apparently nowhere near where you live.
Ruth, breaking your leg because you tried to jump, slipped on smooth rocks and got your foot caught isn't being clumsy, it's just physics (rolling friction!).
ReplyDeleteBeing clumsy is what I did Christmas 2008: I took my mother's very heavy suitcase out of my car, and set it down on the curb (ok, more like dropped it) directly on my foot. I wound up fracturing some of those long bones in the foot (I can't remember their names and I'm too lazy to look it up right now). However I didn't bother going to Urgent Care until Feb of 2009, by that time there wasn't much they can do for me (what, ERs are expensive!).
Walls have also been known to shift their position to walk in front of me, so have door frames. Imagine colliding with a door frame, and having it rip part of your shirt off in front of your boss! Talk about humiliating!
Anyways, *hug* take care, and go gets lots of people to sign your cast. It's tradition :).
Hopefully you won't need too much physical therapy when it's off, but if your school is anything like mine, they have physical therapy sessions for $15 through your school's health clinic (ours sucked, but they did do a good job).
yewouch!! take care!
ReplyDeleteOH!! I feel nauseated just thinking about that. You poor thing!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not concerned about revealing where I tripped because it's quite a drive from where I live and it's popular amongst hikers. Remaining anonymous doesn't mean I can't give details of where I went on a weekend. I will never say where I'll go before hand but I don't see the harm in revealing where I went after.
ReplyDelete@the email commenter ("InCommunion"/Dad) - Where I go to school isn't a state secret. If it's figured out it's figured out. There are a few hundred other people enrolled there as well. Stop being passive-aggressive please.
@the rest -
What was strange in breaking my leg was that I really didn't think I'd broke it. It didn't hurt all that badly at that moment. I've had sprains that have hurt way worse both during and after. I thought I could hobble out until it started swelling and my toes started to tingle. I could put some weight on it, which I'd always heard was impossible with a break. After about one hundred yards, I felt a clicking and the swollen part started hurting so I sat down and rolled up my pant leg to see the "off" angle of my calf. It was subtle but noticable. One of the hikers we were with is an EMT with Search and Rescue so he made me stick my leg back in the water (COLD) and sit it out until they made a litter to get me back to the road. I felt really bad about them having to carry me for a mile or so. Then we met the medivac people about another three miles down the road. It took about two hours in total to get to the ER.
A comment asked about recovery time and what they did to fix it.
ReplyDeleteI had to have a pin put in, so they didn't cast immediately. I had a quick surgery and when I came out it was casted. It was painful for the first two days but nothing out of control. They had me taking IV meds that first day and the next day they moved me to oral Vicoden. I had a prescription and I needed to take it maybe twice a day instead of four times the first two days after that and now I'm okay with anti-inflammatory medication and tylenol. I have to take the two together for some reason to get relief. Just one of the other doesn't work. I noticed today that there's almost no pain if I do that consistently on time. I'm worried about having to do this schedule of meds because doesn't taking this level of tylenol prolonged hurt you?
Ruth, the amount of time you're talking about isn't the kind of prolonged the docs mean. If you're still on the same dosage months from now, your liver could be affected but for now, you're fine.
ReplyDeleteI REALLY hope your father didn't take the opportunity to tell you God was punishing you through your injury, though I've been wondering how long it would take for him to play that card...
Ruth, regarding your comment about it not feeling that bad at first: It's funny how that old adrenalin thing works isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI once witnessed a car accident where I saw a woman get hit by a car, bounce off its hood and smash down to the ground. Of course I stopped, but by this time, she had run to the sidewalk and was comforting the driver who had hit her.
I offered to take her to the hospital, but she said that she was fine. There was no way this woman was fine. I saw her bounce up and onto the hood and then smash to the ground. I said, "You're not fine, it's just adrenalin." Nope. She wasn't having it and she walked back to her dentist office where she worked. I drove over there and walked in the building and told the dentist what I had witnessed. He said, "You're going to the hospital now". So I drove her there. Well, by the time she got to admitting she was shaking and in tears. Her hip was aching, her foot was in pain. Turned out she was quite bruised and contused and had a broken ankle.
Adrenalin is wonderful, but it has its limitations.
Did you have a good time other than the injury?
ReplyDeleteHow many people did you go with? Did you enjoy their company?
Yeah, Im nosey. :)
Jenny
Wow, @ the car accident lady walking back to work. Good for you for making sure she got taken care of.
ReplyDeleteRuth,
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about Darth. He's an alarmist. There are only about 40 schools within driving range of where you were. I for one promise I won't be using my frequent flyer miles to fly out and stalk all the schools looking for a girl in a cast.
And I'm the freaky paranoid about privacy one.
I'm glad you had fun and are making a good group of friends. In a few years, you'll look back at this and laugh hysterically. I'm glad your friends were that useful. I had a car wreck and felt like I was walking the police officer through helping me stop the bleeding in my leg. I think he was about to pass out when the EMT's got there.
I'm going to send you a tip jar just in case you are low on funds after getting the meds. I want to make sure you get some good meals so you'll recover. And don't worry about the meds. Pain pills do nothing for me, compared with tylenol. Everyone's system works differently.
Cyn
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you were injured but I am glad you had fun hiking!
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteYou need to watch the amount of tylenol you take in a day--no more than 4,000mg. That's 8 extra strength tylenol, or about 12 regular strength.
You also want to avoid taking anti-inflammatories like advil/ibuprofen at the same time as you take tylenol. Stagger the doses. The combination together can be hard on the liver. For ibuprofen, the max total you can take in a day is 3200mg. However, since you are taking tylenol as well, I would recommend keeping the total much lower.
Finally, there is no concern about taking these medications on a daily basis for the period of time you have been. Just watch your total daily dosage.
My doctor told me when I broke my foot last year (shattered the 5th metatarsal into fragments) that I should take the Ibuprofen with the Vicodin/tylenol as it complimented each other, but to make sure that I had food in my stomach. I take Norco now, less tylenol more painkiller because of the chronic pain I have from 3 surgeries on my right shoulder.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll get around okay. I couldn't do crutches because 4 days after I broke my foot i had my 3rd shoulder surgery.
Glad you had a good time hiking even though you broke your leg. We go to the foothills above Azusa CA now. Lots of good trails right next to a river. Husband pans for gold.
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteVicoden contains Tylenol (aka acetaminophen), which is why you should also be careful of how much Vicoden you take and avoid taking it with other pain killers.
I would also recommend NOT combining brands of pain killers ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Alieve-my personal favorite), and acetaminophen (Tylenol) just don't play well with each other.
Best thing to do is to read the dosing recommendation printed on the label. :)
And just be glad you didn't break your writing hand! Taking notes in class with a cast on your hand really really sucks (even though schools at that point are supposed to provide a note taker).
According to her member registration at the NLQ forums (http://nolongerquivering.proboards.com/index.cgi), today is Ruth's birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to You!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to You!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Happy Birthday, Dear Ruth!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Happy Birthday to You!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
So sorry you have to spend your birthday in casts ~ but hey ~ they're pink, so at least there's that. :) Hope you mend quickly. Have a wonderful day.
Vyckie Garrison
http://nolongerquivering.com
You poor thing! I hope you got to enjoy some of the hike before the accident happened.
ReplyDeleteI too have broken my ankle & leg while on vacation and didn't know it right away. The adrenalin helped me get through it and also it didn't hurt as I would have expected. I thought it was sprained. I was able to walk somewhat. Went to the doc when I got back and sure enough it was broken and required surgery.
My recommendation is to keep it elevated as much as possible. This will keep the swelling and throbbing down. Put it up on a chair whenever you are sitting. When you are sleeping prop it up. Folded over blankets and towels work great as cushions because you can make them nice and stable. Pillows tend to be a bit wobbly.
Also, keep snacking and hydrated. It takes a lot of energy to heal as well as get around with a cast and crutches. Plus, the meds can be tough on your stomach and can lower your blood pressure and give you that low blood sugar feeling. Having some snacks will help with that feeling.
You're a trooper!!
Happy Birthday Ruth!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kris. How did you figure that out?
ReplyDeleteVickie Garrison spilled the beans up above, Ruth. She found your birthday listed on nolongerquivering registration.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday!!!! Hope you have fun inspite of the cast!
No more posts, and not even any more comments...where did everybody go!?
ReplyDelete